Council claims 'trench-like' pothole that likely killed cyclist "closed and opened" on its own

[bikingdad90]

My council is just as bad, there is a road that most streets lead onto on the way out of the estate and they decided to put speed bumps on half of the road but haven’t bothered to put them down the other half which happens to be the bit where all the school children walk down to get to the local primary, what now happens is all the drivers take a slight detour around a crescent to avoid the speed bumps and then carry on speeding down the road that they’ve just rejoined.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Your hectoring tone will do nothing to get work done and is probably counter productive.

No doubt your frustration is genuine, but you need to ask yourself if you want to vent at the council or if you want them to fix the potholes.

Local authorities are famously touchy and keen to seize on any unpleasantness as an excuse to do nothing.

A better approach would be something more conciliatory such as: "I understand budgets and resources are stretched, but this pothole has been there for some time, and I believe it represents a genuine hazard to road users, particularly vulnerable ones, etc, etc."

Whether my 'hectoring' is appreciated or not...... they fixed the Somersham road problem last week when we were on holiday. We returned on Sunday to find a nice smooth road . if only they could have done the job in the preceding 12 months!

 

[mjr]

6) There is (to the best of my knowledge) no ombudsman or higher authority available to direct complains to.

1. Your County Councillor. They will probably have voted at some point to approve the current Highways Operational Standards (or equivalent) that farks active travel.

2. Ultimately, if the highways department is farking up too badly, the Department for Transport via your MP is the highest authority.

Local authorities are famously touchy and keen to seize on any unpleasantness as an excuse to do nothing.

Yes. If you get labelled as "Unreasonable" then some councils have official policies to ignore all your messages. It happened to a businessman who lives in the next street. He's now a councillor and making a heck of a noise as he straightens out a few bits of the council that, how shall I put this, appear not to be operating as set out in law.

A while back some clever sod prompted their local council to deal with potholes by spraying penises around them.

So-called Wanksy. Wish I dared.

 

[Drago]

2. Ultimately, if the highways department is farking up too badly, the Department for Transport via your MP is the highest authority.

My MP is Andrea Leadsom, so that's me bolloxed before I even start.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

My MP is Andrea Leadsom, so that's me bolloxed before I even start.

I'll see your Andrea and raise you Ester

 

[mjr]

My MP is Andrea Leadsom, so that's me bolloxed before I even start.

You never know. She might be a very effective constituency MP.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I'm going to play my Attorney General card. Peasants!

TBF whilst her politics are alien to me, she is a decent Constituency MP.

 

[youngoldbloke]

'Repaired' pothole on the B1341 near Bamburgh, from an anonymous report on 'FixMyStreet'.

 

[mjr]

View attachment 724401

'Repaired' pothole on the B1341 near Bamburgh, from an anonymous report on 'FixMyStreet'.

We had a few of those on a no-motors section of NCN 1, repair higher than the road, stepped edges, apparently unsealed. I've no idea what the thinking behind it is, or if there is any thinking, or if it's just untrained apprentices working undersupervised.

 

[youngoldbloke]

We had a few of those on a no-motors section of NCN 1, repair higher than the road, stepped edges, apparently unsealed. I've no idea what the thinking behind it is, or if there is any thinking, or if it's just untrained apprentices working undersupervised.

Standard NCC 'repair' it seems. Dangerous for cycling as you end riding around the bumps, often unavoidably into path of oncoming traffic, picking ones way between the heaps, which of course often last no more than a few weeks at best, which inevitably eventually leads to the dumping of yet more tarmac.

 

[Fastpedaller]

View attachment 724401

'Repaired' pothole on the B1341 near Bamburgh, from an anonymous report on 'FixMyStreet'.

Has anyone local to this contacted the Council though? We won't get better unless we report and respond!

 

[youngoldbloke]

Has anyone local to this contacted the Council though? We won't get better unless we report and respond!

Lots and lots of local responses on FMS complaining about the standard of repairs throughout the county. This was just one of them.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

A while back some clever sod prompted their local council to deal with potholes by spraying penises around them.

Apparently once the balls get over 8 inches diameter the council take action.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Apparently once the balls get over 8 inches diameter the council take action.

That's been done in Great Chesterford recently (as seen on Nextdoor) - some horrendous ones in Cambridgeshire. We saw some a couple of weeks ago which would have put car bodywork onto the road when the wheels went in!

 

[Drago]

Apparently once the balls get over 8 inches diameter the council take action.

They aren't penises. They're crudely drawn portraits of the councillors.